


Crown of Stars

by Julianna4121



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bunker, Comfort, Feels, Fluff, Human Castiel, Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-02
Updated: 2015-11-02
Packaged: 2018-04-29 13:02:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5128604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Julianna4121/pseuds/Julianna4121
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Castiel are two pieces of a very large puzzle. Dean tries his best to convice Cas that he isn't useless. He still has a place, beside Dean. </p><p>Or, the one where Dean has a long talk to comfort Cas and emotions happen under the stars</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crown of Stars

Dean walked down the hallway of the silent bunker. He was on his way to his room for the night but he paused in front of Castiel's dark room. It was empty and Dean knew exactly where he would be. 

He stepped out into the cold night, wishing for a second that he had grabbed a jacket, until he spotted Cas. Well, he saw Cas' legs hanging above him. He blew into his hands to warm them up a bit and then took to climbing the small hill the bunker door was set in. 

Cas had taken up the habit of coming out in the middle of the night and sitting on the small ledge above the bunker's entrance. Usually when something was on his mind. 

Even as Dean came and sat down next to him, Cas didn't say anything. He just kept looking out at the sky. Dean let his legs hang too and joined Cas in observing the stars. 

Except the stars didn't hold his attention for long, instead he found himself staring at Cas. Noticing the ethereal glow that the moon gave him. How the stars clustered above his head made it seem as though he was wearing a crown of light. 

Cas was an angel. With or without his grace, Dean decided. He was innocent and loyal and the most beautiful person he had ever seen. He stood out from the dark background of the sky like a celestial beacon.

Cas turned and met Dean's gaze for the first time, "Did you know that the human eye doesn't have the capability to comprehend the amount of stars that are actually there?" He looked back towards the sky and continued sadly, "I used to be able to see them all, Dean."

"That must have been really bright." Dean replied, furrowing his brows.

Cas laughed but it was an empty sound. "It was brilliant. Nothing could compare. Now I can barely make out any stars with these eyes." He said, his voice gradually dying down to a whisper. 

Dean looked out at the thousands of stars he could see. It was a beautiful, clear night but he could understand how that wouldn't make any difference to Cas.

 

After a moment of silence, Cas seemed to burst. "It just...I wonder...I wonder how long it's going to take me until I can't remember what flying feels like. Or the beauty of creation, or how we rejoiced when father made humans...I don't want to lose that Dean." He had a desperate ache in his voice, a feeling Dean was all too familiar with. 

"You won't lose those things. You can remember the good things and they won't leave you." 

"How can you be so sure?" Cas said with such sadness. 

Dean cleared his throat and scooted a little closer to Cas. "I didn't have the most rockin' childhood, alright? A lot of bad stuff happened that I choose not to think about. But the good things? I remember them, clear as day. If you hold on to them then they can't ever get away. No one can take them from you." 

Cas still didn't look convinced. Dean watched a severe shiver rack Castiel's body and was reminded of the chill in the air. He held his hands out indicating that Cas should put his on top of them. When he did, Dean rubbed their hands together trying to warm his icy skin. He gently massaged the skin to encourage the blood to flow.

Dean continued, still working on Cas' hands. "You see, my mom used to tell me this old story. I wouldn't go to sleep without hearing it, I was ridiculous. But anyways, she told me there was a little boy with bright green eyes and a face full of freckles, a lot like me actually," Dean rolled his eyes playfully at the cliche.

"The difference was that this little boy had a very special protector. Someone who would protect him from monsters and bad guys and from getting hurt. She'd get real close to me like she was going to say some kind of secret and her eyes would get all wide right before whispering 'he had an angel, Dean.'" Dean said, acting out the description he gave. Cas sucked in a breath, entranced in the story and with just how close Dean's lips were. 

"That angel stood by the kid until he was an adult and then he gave the boy a choice. I can leave you to go to another child who needs me or I can stay with you for the rest of your life, and a child will go without a guardian. One or the other. My mom would always stop there and ask me what I thought he'd pick. The answer never changed but my reply never matched the answer anyways." He recalled, deep in his thoughts.

"Of course the guy let the angel go help another kid, I mean that's the right thing to do. I always thought if the son of a bitch stuck with the kid so long then they were obviously a nice pair. My mom," Dean flashed a sad smile, "she'd laugh and make fun. She'd say 'One day you'll understand what I'm trying to teach you sweetheart, and you make sure to call me up when that day comes.'"

"This is one of your good memories?"

Dean nodded but didn't comment.

"Did she ever finish the story?" Cas curiously asked. 

"She fed me some bullshit about the little boy becoming a guardian angel himself but I never got into that ending." Dean said with a dismissive expression. 

"How do you prefer the ending?"

Dean focused on their hands, thinking. "Personally I like to think the Angel came back. I mean if you could hear my mom tell the story you'd understand that there was some serious connection going on. Whatever kind love it was doesn't matter because to me it was just love. Plain and simple. Life sucks enough as it is, no one should have to give up the last shred of happiness they've got."

Cas didn't think Dean was talking about the story anymore but chose not to mention anything. It was rare to have dean sitting idle and so painfully open with something as precious as this memory. 

"What about you?"

"What about me what?" Cas replied, caught off guard.

"No bed time stories?" Dean asked, leaning in.

Cas shrugged. "It wasn't really like that. We'd recite passages of our fathers word and celebrate prophecies." 

"So there was nothing, no story you heard when you were a..um...a little angel?"

Now Castiel was the one who paused in thought. "Well when I was a fledgling there was one tale I was particularly found of."

Is that a blush spreading across Cas' cheeks?

"But it's embarrassing. I'd rather not say." Cas said nervously looking away. 

"Come on Cas! I told you mine the least you can do is tell me yours!" Dean's interest was definitely caught.

Cas looked torn. He bit his lip and peeked back at Dean. "It was the Righteous Man."

"Woah woah, me? The righteous man as in me?" Dean dropped Castiel's hands in shock, a surprised smile covering his face.

Cas waited until Dean had calmed down and returned to massaging warmth into his hands. "Yes. Oh the angels did love to talk about you Dean Winchester. For years and years before your great great great great grandfather was even born your name had passed the lips of every angel in the garrison."

"Wow. Kinda hard to live up to a reputation like that." He said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"You're better, Dean. Better than I had ever imagined. You lived up to your reputation and more." Cas said softly. 

The air didn't feel so cold anymore. Dean wrapped his right arm around Cas' shoulders. Cas rested his head against Dean's chest. 

"My mom's story didn't do you much justice either. You'd never leave me for the greater good. Hell, that's why we're even in this situation." Dean chuckled softly.

He intertwined their fingers and they both watched the stars in silence. 

Dean's arm around him, his heartbeat beneath his cheek. Cas would take these things over flying any day. Cas began to think, that maybe he wasn't losing all of his connections to heaven after all. Maybe he was enveloped by his own piece of heaven right now.


End file.
